Running Bear's February 2026 Coffee Shop

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's clear and 64.
I'm getting an early start on my "house stuff" today, since it's supposed to start raining around 8 AM, and rain until mid afternoon.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good morning Coffee Shop, it's Sunday!

The temperature is 25°F ( -3.889°C) and mostly cloudy here.

Have a great day!

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet landlubbers and ex sailors

It's Troy again.

Day 3 of our cruise is a sea day. We gained an hour overnight as we head east.

Yesterday was Nassau Bahamas. We took a bus tour of the city. It wasn't bad. Lamont, the driver was informative, personable, and a lot of stories. Yes, he claimed to be named after Sanford and Son, the youngest of 10 siblings, all with L first names. And his mother was running out of Ls and liked the show.

Take that for what you paid for it. I count it as entertainment.

The problem was of the three locations we thought we'd visit: Queen's staircase: building projects in the area shut down parking.... so a drive by view only. The "fort" visit wasn't long enough to actually get an entry ticket and visit the site, so "Look, A STRAW MARKET" on site. Go Shop! Followed by a visit the Rum Cake Factory. Free samples, but all the tours were dropping their patrons there. We saw no "factory" or bakery. Just a small shop where we could purchase their rum cakes. Very good rum cakes.

Final stop was the ritzy Atlantis resort... looked like any other casino on the Vegas Strip. Just more coral pinks.

While we were queueing up to get on the bus, a 70ish year old gent from Bristol in the UK, David, decided to adopt the wife and I. So we had someone to swap stories with.

We've also met Patrick and Loretta from Oz (southern states, forget the town they're from). Bumped into them a few time in one of the lounges.

After our excursion, we returned for a liquid lunch (booze package included in our fare):

Mudslides count as ice cream, right?

So we bid adieu to Nassau. Our ship backed out of it's berth, pirouetted 180° then took off to see. Next stop, Dominican Republic.

The lighthouse at the end of the breakwater in Nassau.

 

[migalyto]

Good morning all!

I see the forum is a bit wonky this morning again.

Pretty typical Feb day weather wise. Currently 17F with an expected high of around 25F. Partly cloudy skies.

Have an all day travel volleyball tournament today. That will pretty much consume my morning and afternoon. Should get
some downtime tonight.

Not much else going on at the moment.

Have a safe day everyone!

 

[santafewillie]

Well, my attempt to make cachio e pepe turned into cheese balls and spaghetti. Tried a method that I saw on utube yesterday and it looked like a winner. Nope. 4th attempt and will probably be my last. I'll eat it as is as it still tastes good. Maybe if I go in with the idea to make cheese balls and spaghetti, I might fail at that and actually make cachio e pepe...

I found that using a whisk to make the cheese/water sauce separately works best for me.

 

[Kusojiji]

How fine do you make your cheese? I've read that it should be micro-planed.

 

[NYC_George]

My phone is also set up to silence unknown callers. If you aren't in my directory and are selected to receive calls from you, it doesn't ring.

I have to delete anywhere from 6 to two dozen calls depending upon how often I check it. I don't even look at the numbers anymore. I just do a batch delete and move on.

Gun Broker said I didn't complete the checkout process and that's why it was deleted. I could not complete the checkout process until today and the seller agreed to that because payment couldn't be made until today. You also can't checkout in Gun Broker if they only accept credit or debit cards on-line if it is not completed in so many hours. So that's why the auction disappeared.

No worries though. I found a beautiful Walther PDP 5" law enforcement model with night sights and three magazines for over $100 less than the Hi-Power. NOS from 2021, but brand new. I have not run across this model in the wild, so it is sort of scarce. And it is marked LE on the box label from Walther.

Mike I haven't fired a pistol since USMC boot camp. As far as target shooting goes, I liked the first rifle we were issued the M1 Garand. That was replace by the M14 and then M16 which felt like a toy gun to me compared to the M1. I only had the M16 for maybe a month as I was getting out. Never used it on the range. If your MOS was something like mortars, you only carried a pistol, no rifle. I can't remember what make the pistol issued was being my 2 best friend's MOS was mortars. Swal

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

G'morning all,

Chill start to this Lord's day at 7 above here in Minnesota.

It was a really nice day yesterday. Sun was shining and the snow glistening. I just 'had' to run to the hobby shop as I was running short of rail joiners and did not want to run out. And while there, I browsed through structure kits and rolling stock and got a few more ideas. Came home and worked on the layout all afternoon into the evening. The missus fixed a lovely roast chicken dinner and I chipped in to make a salad dressing and provide a lovely old White Bordeaux. Sent her for a bath and I did the cleanup.

I started the Coal Trestle project. I'm building the Walthers coal trestle and will install it as a raised berm. This will give a nice destination for a hopper or two and give a little and much needed vertical element to the layout. It's going together pretty well with the typical Walthers vacuum of detailed information on the build. They leave much up to the modelers intuition, if you know what I mean!

We have our granddaughter today, so I might not get much done on the layout, but it will still be a good day! She's a sweetie and at that one year stage where everything is so funny. Giggles and laughs all the time. Or naps. Much like her granddad!

Cheers all!

 

[Rubicon]

Cloudy, windy and snowing here in Indy this morning. Waiting to pick the rest of our team in a couple hours. Doing laundry at the hotel while I wait.

 

[RhB Michael]

Brrrrrrr. 22°F this morning and will barely make freeing today. Same thing for tomorrow, then warming some on Tuesday through the rest of the week. No rain in sight, just lots of cold.

Going to try to get into the train room today after lunch with nothing else planned for the day. Have a wonderful day of rest!

Servus!

 

[RhB Michael]

Mike I haven't fired a pistol since USMC boot camp. As far as target shooting goes, I liked the first rifle we were issued the M1 Garand. That was replace by the M14 and then M16 which felt like a toy gun to me compared to the M1. I only had the M16 for maybe a month as I was getting out. Never used it on the range. If your MOS was something like mortars, you only carried a pistol, no rifle. I can't remember what make the pistol issued was being my 2 best friend's MOS was mortars. Swal

I'm not sure how many subcontractors Colt was using for the 1911 over the years. I know there were many companies making the 1911. Singer, Remington, Colt, National Cash Register, Winchester, Savage, etc. depending upon the era.

In the Air Force we qualified with the S&W Model 10 4" barrel. The Air Force didn't use the 1911 except I think for the Parajumpers elite unit. The only time I carried a revolver was when we dispatched with targeting tapes for Minuteman, or if we were dispatching with a classified electronics drawer for installation in the Launch Facility or the Launch Control Center.

In those cases, we took an extra cop with us too that was armed with an M-60 machine gun, the other cop had his M-16.

Inside the LF strapped to a pole bolted to the upper Lower Equipment Room (LER) floor were two Remington 870 Defenders (18" barrel) and 50 rounds of ammo for each. These were in a plastic sleeve type anti-corrosion bag.

 

[Espeefan]

Morning All! I went to the MAD City show yesterday. Sorry to say it was a little disappointing. The traffic was so bad I spent 45 minutes sitting in traffic from the waiting line for the exit ramp to the parking lot entrance, a distance of maybe a mile and a half. In the past the police have helped with traffic. Not so this year. The facility has also gone cashless so we had to pay for our $10.00 parking with a card, which resulted in the usual fumbling, etc, etc. I wanted to point out the fine print on the ten dollar bill that says "This note is legal tender for all debts public and private", but it wasn't that guys fault, and it would have probably gotten me lynched by the people behind me who were no doubt as frustrated as I was. Same for admittance. I guess they don't trust the people working for them. Only two guys working the parking lot, so it was a real clusterf*** getting in and parked. Once in, there wasn't much for an SP guy. This hasn't been true in the past, but...sh&t happens. I friend had a booth there, so he told me to come in the back and had a badge waiting for me. He had some passenger car interior parts, and some Scalecoat UP Armour Yellow I needed so it wasn't a total bust. I also found a pair of ESU speakers I need for a tunnel motor I have that needs them. Total expenditures: $10.00 to park, $16 for lunch (had to wait again as they ran out of food) and $10 for the speakers. An all-time low for me at as show! At least I got to see my friend and spent some time in the booth with him. We used to do shows back in the day when I was an Iwata dealer, so we reminisced about the old days. In spite of my griping, it wasn't a bad show. Plenty of dealers and layouts, a good crowd, and me being an old curmudgeon who has 99.5% of what he needs, I'd be a tough sell anyhow! I also noticed not many deals. Some nice brass if you're a Burlington, a GN, or a Milwaukee Road guy, but they were awfully proud of it if you get my drift ($700 ask for a model that goes for $350 on e-Bay). Not so much a "Blow out the inventory" mindset as there used to be, but there was a good selection of stuff under one roof. I guess the days of "affordability" are going to disappear here as well.

 

[NYC_George]

In those cases, we took an extra cop with us too that was armed with an M-60 machine gun, the other cop had his M-16.

Yes Mike our squad had our own M-60 machine gun. Have you ever disassembled one? Lots of parts to clean and put back together. Swal

 

[RhB Michael]

No, I wasn't qualified on the M-60. One of our cops let me hold one once. Not light. Most of those cops that carried those to the field were pretty big guys.

 

[Marlin39]

Stopped by the shop to check GB emails. Almost every question could have been answered if they had just read the description. I guess they only looked at pictures and didn't have the reading comprehension skills.

I also noticed that the Law Enforcement division picked up a bunch of trade-in Daniel Defense AR-10's. 14.5" barrels with a P&W brake on the end (16"). Mint and most have some upgrades. $4k rifles going on the rack at $1400. With that brake they will be loud.

 

[NYC_George]

No, I wasn't qualified on the M-60. One of our cops let me hold one once. Not light. Most of those cops that carried those to the field were pretty big guys.

Mike M-60 machine gun, very heavy. Not good for the guy carrying around. I can only remember a guy called Willie with the gun strapped on his shoulder. Yes, we all qualified with the gun and the beaten drop zone of the bullets. Swal

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 33°, about what was expected this morning. Headed up to 55° later on just like yesterday. Another chilly night tonight and then a return to our normal February temperatures.

Another average day on the SFW estate yesterday. Today will be a typical Sunday I expect. The dishwasher awaits, but whether I get to it before or after Mass is unknown! Bed linen laundry today and I don't know what I will fix for supper yet!

Out in the train shed yesterday, I did a little more cleaning and rearranging, as things have gotten out of hand lately. Even though I am not currently using any, during my trips under the layout in the past few days, I realized that I had track stored in three different places. Time to consolidate. And of course whenever I move something around, I have to rid the area of the cobwebs and accumulated debris like grass clippings and leaves that get tracked in all of the time. Dead insect bodies abound, especially crickets and ladybugs. I also consolidated two boxes of vehicles and in the process removed three for immediate use.

All of them are Oxford models. That's a 1959 Chevy panel truck, a 1963 Corvair and a 1968 Dodge Charger; all of which were still around in the early part of my modeling era. I disassembled them and sent them to the paint booth for dull-coating. These will all be used in parking situations, so none will get drivers.

David (Marlin) - I haven't had any dealings with Bar Mills lately, so it's disheartening to read of your troubles. They still make some of the best smaller laser-cut kits around though.
Terry - I don't get any loan texts or calls, but what I do get is political crap. Seems that the previous owner of my cell number donated to one of the political parties and I constantly get texts asking for more money. AT&T tells me that she gave the number up in 2013 and I got it in 2018, but it doesn't end there, even with me texting "STOP" or "END" back to them. Blocking just blocks that number. They just use a different number. Even rude responses don't seem to work!
Kusojiji -

How fine do you make your cheese? I've read that it should be micro-planed.

I just use the finest soft cheese grate on my grater. I do not use the hard cheese grate side.
Steve - Gotta love those Walther's instructions!

Today is the real birthday of George Washington

Everyone have a great Sunday.

 

[RhB Michael]

Mike M-60 machine gun, very heavy. Not good for the guy carrying around. I can only remember a guy called Willie with the gun strapped on his shoulder. Yes, we all qualified with the gun and the beaten drop zone of the bullets. Swal

I was reading up on it a few minutes ago. 30 pounds with a full belt! 23 pounds empty. That is still over twice what my PTR weighs with a loaded steel magazine.

 

[NorthBrit]

Good afternoon all.
On the U.K. Forum I am a member of i was asked what the food is like on a cargo ship.
My reply being, 'Very good, but not the variety as on a cruise ship.'
Today's menu is very, very good. We had to choose our meals early, so the chefs knew what to cook and how much.

Earlier on the voyage I was allowed to look around the kitchen

The Dining Room

 

[troyphoto]

Well, David might have the awesome food, but we have a band of Pub-Crawling Mrs. Roper Re-enactors. A band of women with frizzy permed wigs, sunglasses, and colourful mumus are roaming the passageways from Pub to Pub.